document_title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)

question_text: who played violet in willy wonka and the chocolate factory 2005

text: Plot

text: Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) is a poor boy who lives near the Wonka Candy Company. The company's owner, Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp), has for long closed access to his factory due to problems concerning industrial espionage that led him to fire all his employees, among them Charlie's Grandpa Joe (David Kelly). One day, Wonka announces a contest, in which Golden Tickets have been placed in five random Wonka Bars worldwide, and the winners will be given a full tour of the factory as well as a lifetime supply of chocolate, while one ticketholder will be given a special prize at the end of the tour.

text: Wonka's sales subsequently skyrocket, and the first four tickets are found fairly quickly. The recipients are Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), a gluttonous German boy; Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), a very spoiled English girl; Violet Beauregarde (AnnaSophia Robb), a competitive gum chewer, and Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), an arrogant television and video game addict. Charlie tries twice to find a ticket, but both bars come up empty. After overhearing that the final ticket was found in Russia, Charlie finds a ten-dollar note, and purchases a Wonka Bar at a news shop. At the exact moment it was revealed that the Russian ticket was forged, Charlie discovers the real fifth ticket inside the wrapper. Charlie first considers an offer of $500 for the ticket, but decides to keep it, and bring Grandpa Joe to accompany him on the factory tour.

text: Charlie and the other ticket holders are greeted by Wonka outside the factory, who then leads them into the facility. During the tour, each of the bad children disobey Wonka's orders after being tempted by something related to their individual character flaws, and suffer various consequences: Augustus is sucked up a chocolate extraction pipe after falling into a chocolate river from which he was drinking, Violet is turned into an oversized blueberry after chewing unstable three-course-meal gum, Veruca is pushed into a garbage chute by worker squirrels after she tries to take one as a pet, and Mike is shrunk with a teleporter that he uses on himself. Wonka's employees, the Oompa-Loompas (Deep Roy) sing a song of morality after each elimination. The children later leave the factory with an exaggerated characteristic or deformity related to their demise – Augustus covered in chocolate, Violet flexible and violet-colored, Mike overstretched and Veruca merely covered in garbage. In addition, Augustus’s mother realises her son’s addiction to candy is bad and Veruca’s father resolves to stop spoiling his daughter.

text: Wonka then invites Charlie to come live and work in the factory with him, and reveals that the purpose of the Golden Tickets and the tour was to make the "least rotten" child the heir of the factory itself. The only catch is that Charlie must leave his family behind, because Wonka believes family is a hindrance while a chocolatier needed creative freedom – a philosophy Wonka developed due to his dentist father, Dr. Wilbur Wonka (Christopher Lee), denying his son candy because of the potential risk to his teeth. After sneaking over a piece of candy, Wonka was instantly hooked, and ran away to follow his dreams. When he returned, both his father and their house were gone.

text: As his family is the most important thing in his life, Charlie refuses Wonka's offer. Charlie and his family are living contently a while later, however Wonka is too depressed to make candy the way he used to, causing his candy to sell poorly and his company to decline. He turns to Charlie for advice. Charlie decides to help Wonka confront and reconcile with his estranged father; Wonka finally realizes the value of family, while his father learns to accept his son for who he is, and not what he does. In the end, Wonka finally allows Charlie’s family to move into the factory, Charlie has the chocolate factory, and Wonka has patched up with his family.

text: Cast

text:
Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka
Blair Dunlop as Young Willy Wonka
Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket
David Kelly as Grandpa Joe
Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Bucket
Noah Taylor as Mr. Bucket
Missi Pyle as Mrs. Beauregarde
James Fox as Mr. Salt
Adam Godley as Mr. Teavee
Franziska Troegner as Mrs. Gloop
Christopher Lee as Dr. Wilbur Wonka
Deep Roy as Oompa-Loompas (with vocal work by Danny Elfman)
AnnaSophia Robb as Violet Beauregarde
Philip Wiegratz as Augustus Gloop
Julia Winter as Veruca Salt
Jordan Fry as Mike Teavee
Liz Smith as Grandma Georgina
Eileen Essell as Grandma Josephine
David Morris as Grandpa George
Geoffrey Holder as the Narrator

text: Production

text: Development

text: Author Roald Dahl disapproved of the 1971 film adaptation and declined the film rights to produce the sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.[5] Warner Bros. and Brillstein-Grey Entertainment entered discussions with the Dahl estate in 1991, hoping to purchase the rights to produce another film version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The purchase was finalized in 1998,[6] with Dahl's widow, Felicity ("Liccy"), and daughter, Lucy, receiving total artistic control and final privilege on the choices of actors, directors and writers. The Dahl Estate's subsequent protection of the source material was the main reason that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had languished in development hell since the 1990s.[7][8]

text: Scott Frank was hired to write the screenplay in February 1999, after approaching Warner Bros. for the job.[8] Frank, a recent Oscar-nominee for the R-rated crime film Out of Sight, wanted to work on a film that his children could enjoy.[9][10][11] As an enthusiastic fan of the book, he intended to remain more truthful to Dahl's vision than the 1971 film had been.[8] Nicolas Cage was under discussions for Willy Wonka, but lost interest.[5][12] Gary Ross signed to direct in February 2000,[13] which resulted in Frank completing two drafts of the screenplay,[11] before leaving with Ross in September 2001.[14] Both Warner Bros. and the Dahl Estate wanted Frank to stay on the project, but he faced scheduling conflicts and contractual obligations with Minority Report (2002) and The Lookout (2007).[11]

text: Rob Minkoff entered negotiations to take the director's position in October 2001,[15] and Gwyn Lurie was hired to start from scratch on a new script in February 2002. Lurie said she would adapt the original book and ignore the 1971 film adaptation. Dahl's estate championed Lurie after being impressed with her work on another Dahl adaptation, a live-action adaptation of The BFG, for Paramount Pictures, which was never made (Paramount distributed the earlier 1971 film version of Charlie, and later sold the rights to WB).[16] In April 2002, Martin Scorsese was involved with the film, albeit briefly, but opted to direct The Aviator instead.[5][12] Warner Bros. president Alan F. Horn wanted Tom Shadyac to direct Jim Carrey as Willy Wonka, believing the duo could make Charlie and the Chocolate Factory relevant to mainstream audiences, but Liccy Dahl opposed this.[7]

text: Pre-production

text: After receiving enthusiastic approval from the Dahl Estate, Warner Bros. hired Tim Burton to direct in May 2003.[6] Burton compared the project's languishing development to Batman (1989), which he directed, in how there had been varied creative efforts with both films. He said, "Scott Frank's version was the best, probably the clearest, and the most interesting, but they had abandoned that."[17] Liccy Dahl commented that Burton was the first and only director the estate was happy with. He had previously produced another of the author's adaptations with James and the Giant Peach (1996), and, like Roald and Liccy, disliked the 1971 film because it strayed from the book's storyline.[7]

text:
"As a child, Dahl was the author who I connected to the most. He got the idea of writing a mixture of light and darkness, and not speaking down to kids, and the kind of politically incorrect humor that kids get. I've always liked that, and it's shaped everything I've felt that I've done."
Tim Burton[17]

tag: div

text: During pre-production Burton visited Dahl's former home in the Buckinghamshire village of Great Missenden. Liccy Dahl remembers Burton entering Dahl's famed writing shed and saying, "This is the Buckets' house!" and thinking to herself, "Thank God, somebody gets it." Liccy also showed Burton the original handwritten manuscripts, which Burton discovered were more politically incorrect than the published book. The manuscripts included a child named Herpes, after the sexually transmitted disease.[17] Burton immediately thought of Johnny Depp for the role of Willy Wonka, who in August 2003 joined the film, his fourth collaboration with the director.[18]

text: Lurie's script received a rewrite by Pamela Pettler, who worked with Burton on Corpse Bride, but the director hired Big Fish screenwriter John August in December 2003 to start from scratch.[12] Both August and Burton were fans of the book since their childhoods.[17] August first read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when he was eight years old, and subsequently sent Dahl a fan letter. He did not see the 1971 film prior to his hiring, which Burton believed would be fundamental in having August stay closer to the book.[19] The writer updated the Mike Teavee character into an obsessive video game player, as compared to the novel, in which he fantasized about violent crime films. The characters Arthur Slugworth and Prodnose were reduced to brief cameo appearances, while Mr. Beauregarde was entirely omitted.[20]

text: Burton and August also worked together in creating Wilbur Wonka, Willy's domineering dentist father. Burton thought the paternal character would help explain Willy Wonka himself and that otherwise he would be "just a weird guy".[3] The element of an estranged father-son relationship had previously appeared in Big Fish, similarly directed by Burton and written by August. Warner Bros. and the director held differences over the characterizations of Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka. The studio wanted to entirely delete Mr. Bucket and make Willy Wonka the idyllic father figure Charlie had longed for his entire life. Burton believed that Wonka would not be a good father, finding the character similar to a recluse.[21] Burton said, "In some ways, he's more screwed up than the kids." Warner Bros. also wanted Charlie to be a whiz kid, but Burton resisted the characterization. He wanted Charlie to be an average child who would be in the background and not get in trouble.[17]

text: Casting

text: Prior to Burton's involvement, Warner Bros. considered or discussed Willy Wonka with Bill Murray, Christopher Walken, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey, Michael Keaton, Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Mike Myers, Ben Stiller, Leslie Nielsen, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Patrick Stewart, and Adam Sandler.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] Dustin Hoffman and Marilyn Manson reportedly wanted the role as well.[24][30]  Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, however, stayed on to co-finance the film with Warner Bros.[7] Coincidentally, Cleese, Idle and Palin (as well as the other three Monty Python members) had all previously expressed interest in playing Wonka in the 1971 film adaptation.[29] Johnny Depp was the only actor Burton considered for the role,[17] although Dwayne Johnson was Burton's second choice in case Depp was unavailable.[31] Depp signed on without reading the script under the intention of going with a completely different approach than what Gene Wilder did in the 1971 film adaptation.[32] Depp said regardless of the original film, Gene Wilder's characterization of Willy Wonka stood out as a unique portrayal.[7]

text: Depp and Burton derived their Willy Wonka from children's television show hosts such as Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo), Fred Rogers, and Al Lewis from The Uncle Al Show, and Depp also took inspiration from various game show hosts.[33] Burton recalled from his childhood that the characters were bizarre but left lasting impressions. He said, "It was kind of a strange amalgamation of these weird children's TV show hosts."[17] Depp based Wonka's look (exaggerated bob cut and sunglasses) on Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour.[34]

text: Comparisons were drawn between Willy Wonka and Michael Jackson. Burton disagreed with the comparisons and said Jackson, unlike Wonka, liked children.[21] Depp said the similarities with Jackson never occurred to him. Instead, he compared Wonka to Howard Hughes due to his "reclusive, germaphobe, controlling" nature.[33] Burton agreed with the similarity to Hughes. He also cited Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane as an inspiration for Wonka, as Kane is "somebody who was brilliant but then was traumatized and then retreats into their own world".[17] Depp wanted to sport prosthetic makeup for the part and have a long, elongated nose, but Burton believed it would be too outrageous. During production, Gene Wilder, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, accused the filmmakers of only remaking the 1971 film for the purpose of money.[35] Depp said he was disappointed by Wilder's comment, and responded that the film was not a remake, but a new adaptation of Dahl's 1964 book.[3]

text: The casting calls for Charlie Bucket, Violet Beauregarde, Veruca Salt, and Mike Teavee took place in the United States and United Kingdom, while Augustus Gloop's casting took place in Germany. Burton said he sought actors "who had something of the character in them", and found Mike Teavee the hardest character to cast.[17] Burton was finding trouble casting Charlie, until Depp, who had worked with Freddie Highmore on Finding Neverland, suggested Highmore for the part.[5] Highmore had already read the book before, but decided to read it once more prior to auditioning.[36] The actor did not see the original film adaptation, and chose not to see it until after Burton's production, so his portrayal would not be influenced.[37]

text: Before Adam Godley was officially cast as Mr. Teavee, Dan Castellaneta, Tim Allen, Ed O'Neill, Bob Saget, and Ray Romano were all considered for the role.[22]

text: It has been rumored that Gregory Peck was considered for the role of Grandpa Joe.[38]  Other actors that were considered for Grandpa Joe included Richard Attenborough, Kirk Douglas, Albert Finney, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Newman, Max von Sydow, David Warner, Christopher Lloyd and Peter Ustinov.[39]

text: Filming

text: Principal photography for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory started on June 21, 2004[12] at Pinewood Studios in England.[40] Director Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman found filming somewhat difficult because they were simultaneously working on Corpse Bride.[21] The Wonka Factory exterior was coincidentally constructed on the same backlot Burton had used for Gotham City in Batman (1989).[17] The ceremonial scene required 500 local extras.[7] The Chocolate Room/River setpiece filled Pinewood's 007 Stage. As a consequence of British Equity rules, which state that children can only work four and a half hours a day, filming for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory took six months, ending in December 2004.[17]

text: Design

text: The architecture of the Bucket family home was influenced by Burton's visit to Roald Dahl's writing hut. Like the book, the film has a "timeless" setting and is not set in a specific country. "We've tried not to pinpoint it to any place," production designer Alex McDowell explained. "The cars, in fact, drive down the middle of the road."[7] The town, whose design was shaped by the black and white urban photography of Bill Brandt, as well as Pittsburgh and Northern England, is arranged like a medieval village, with Wonka's estate on top and the Bucket shack below.[7] The filmmakers also used fascist architecture for Wonka's factory exterior, and designed most of the sets on 360° sound stages, similar to cycloramas. Burton biographer Mark Salisbury wrote that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory "melds 1950s and '70s visuals with a futuristic sensibility that seems straight out of a 1960s sense of the future."[17] The "TV Room" was patterned after photographs from the films 2001: A Space Odyssey, Danger: Diabolik, and THX 1138. Danger Diabolik also served as inspiration for the Nut Room and Inventing Room.[17]

text: Visual effects

text: Tim Burton avoided using too many digital effects because he wanted the younger actors to feel as if they were working in a realistic environment.[41] As a result, forced perspective techniques, oversized props and scale models were used to avoid computer-generated imagery (CGI).[17] Deep Roy was cast to play the Oompa-Loompas based on his previous collaborations with Burton on Planet of the Apes and Big Fish. The actor was able to play various Oompa-Loompas using split screen photography, digital and front projection effects.[3] "Tim told me that the Oompa-Loompas were strictly programmed, like robots — all they do is work, work, work," Roy commented. "So when it comes time to dance, they're like a regiment; they do the same steps."[42]

text: A practical method was considered for the scene in which Violet Beauregarde turns blue and swells up into a giant 10-foot blueberry. A suit with an air hose was considered at one point for the beginnings of the swelling scene, before the decision was made to do the entire transformation in CGI. The visual effects house Cinesite was recruited for this assignment. In some shots of AnnaSophia Robb's head, a facial prosthetic was worn to give the impression that her cheeks had swelled up as well. Because this decision was made late in the film's production, any traces of Violet's blueberry scene were omitted from trailers or promotional material.

text: Rather than rely on CGI, Burton wanted the 40 squirrels in the Nut Room to be real. The animals were trained every day for 10 weeks before filming commenced. They began their coaching while newborns, fed by bottles to form relationships with human trainers. The squirrels were each taught how to sit upon a little blue bar stool, tap and then open a walnut, and deposit its meat onto a conveyor belt.[7] "Ultimately, the scene was supplemented by CGI and animatronics," Burton said, "but for the close-ups and the main action, they're the real thing."[17] Wonka's Viking boat for the Chocolate River sequence floats down a realistic river filled with 192,000 gallons of faux melted chocolate.[43] "Having seen the first film, we wanted to make the chocolate river look edible," McDowell said. "In the first film, it's so distasteful." The production first considered a CGI river, but Burton was impressed with the artificial substance when he saw how it clung to the boat's oars. Nine shades of chocolate were tested before Burton settled on the proper hue.[7]

text: Music

text: The original music score was written by Danny Elfman, a frequent collaborator with director Tim Burton. Elfman's score is based around three primary themes: a gentle family theme for the Buckets, generally set in upper woodwinds; a mystical, string-driven waltz for Willy Wonka; and a hyper-upbeat factory theme for full orchestra, Elfman's homemade synthesizer samples and the diminutive chanting voices of the Oompa-Loompas.[44]

text: Elfman also wrote and performed the vocals for four songs, with pitch changes and modulations to represent different singers.[45] The lyrics to the Oompa-Loompa songs are adapted from the original book, and are thus credited to Roald Dahl.[44] Following Burton's suggestion, each song in the score is designed to reflect a different archetype.[45] "Wonka's Welcome Song" is a maddeningly cheerful theme park ditty, "Augustus Gloop" a Bollywood spectacle (per Deep Roy's suggestion),[42] "Violet Beauregarde" is 1970s funk, "Veruca Salt" is 1960s bubblegum pop / psychedelic pop, and "Mike Teavee" is a tribute to late 1970s hard rock (such as Queen) and early 1980s hair bands.[44][45]

text: The original motion picture soundtrack was released on July 12, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records.

text: Release

text: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had its premiere at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre, on July 10, 2005, where money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation was raised.[46] The film was released in the United States on July 15, 2005 in 3,770 theaters[47] (including IMAX theaters).[48]

text: Marketing

text: Early in the development of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in February 2000, Warner Bros. announced their intention of marketing the film[13] with a Broadway theatre musical after release. The studio reiterated their interest in May 2003,[6] however, the idea was postponed by the time filming began in June 2004.[7] The main tie-in for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory focused on The Willy Wonka Candy Company, a division of Nestlé. A small range of Wonka Bars were launched, utilizing their prominence in the film.[49] The release of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also rekindled public interest in Roald Dahl's 1964 book, and appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list from July 3 to October 23, 2005.[50][51]

text: Box office

text: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory earned $56,178,450 in its opening weekend,[47] the fifth-highest opening weekend gross for 2005, and stayed at #1 for two weeks.[52] The film eventually grossed $206,459,076 in US totals and $268,509,687 in foreign countries, coming to a worldwide total of $474,968,763. It was the fifty-eighth highest-grossing film of all time when released,[47] as well as seventh-highest for the US[52] and eighth-highest worldwide for the year of 2005.[53]

text: Critical response

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 83% based on 222 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Closer to the source material than 1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is for people who like their Chocolate visually appealing and dark."[54] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[55] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[56]

text: Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praised Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, writing "Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka may be a stone freak, but he is also one of Burton's classic crackpot conjurers, like Beetlejuice or Ed Wood."[57] Roger Ebert gave an overall positive review and enjoyed the film. He was primarily impressed by Tim Burton's direction of the younger cast members, but was disappointed with Depp's performance: "What was Depp thinking of? In Pirates of the Caribbean he was famously channeling Keith Richards, which may have primed us to look for possible inspirations for this performance."[58] Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle found Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Burton's "best work in years. If all the laughs come from Depp, who gives Willy the mannerisms of a classic Hollywood diva, the film's heart comes from Highmore, a gifted young performer whose performance is sincere, deep and unforced in a way that's rare in a child actor."[59] Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone magazine that "Depp's deliciously demented take on Willy Wonka demands to be seen. Depp goes deeper to find the bruises on Wonka's secret heart than what Gene Wilder did. Depp and Burton may fly too high on the vapors of pure imagination, but it's hard to not get hooked on something this tasty. And how about that army of Oompa-Loompas, all played by Deep Roy, in musical numbers that appear to have been choreographed by Busby Berkeley on crack."[60]

text: Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post criticized Depp's acting. "The cumulative effect isn't pretty. Nor is it kooky, funny, eccentric or even mildly interesting. Indeed, throughout his fey, simpering performance, Depp seems to be straining so hard for weirdness that the entire enterprise begins to feel like those excruciating occasions when your parents tried to be hip. Aside from Burton's usual eye-popping direction, the film's strenuous efforts at becoming a camp classic eventually begin to wear thin."[61]

text: In 2007, Gene Wilder said he chose not to see the film. "The thing that put me off ... I like Johnny Depp, I like him, as an actor I like him very much ... but when I saw little pieces in the promotion of what he was doing, I said I don't want to see the film, because I don't want to be disappointed in him."[62] In 2013, when Wilder was asked about the Burton remake, he said "I think it's an insult. It's probably Warner Bros.' insult."  He also criticized the choices that Burton made as a director, saying "I don't care for that director. He's a talented man, but I don't care for him doing stuff like he did."[63]

text: Accolades

text: Costume designer Gabriella Pescucci received an Academy Award nomination, but lost to Colleen Atwood for Memoirs of a Geisha.[64] Johnny Depp lost the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy to Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line.[65] More nominations followed from the British Academy Film Awards for Visual Effects, Costume Design (Pescucci), Makeup & Hair (Peter Owen and Ivana Primorac) and Production Design (Alex McDowell).[66] Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was also nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, as well as Performance by a Younger Actor (Freddie Highmore), Music (Danny Elfman) and Costume (Pescucci).[67] Elfman and screenwriter John August were nominated for a Grammy Award with "Wonka's Welcome Song".[68]


document_title: How to Train Your Dragon (film)

question_text: where do they live in how to train your dragon

root

text: How to Train Your Dragon (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: The Isle of Berk is a remote Viking village, from which dragons periodically steal livestock. Hiccup, the awkward fifteen-year-old son of the village chieftain, Stoick the Vast, is too small to fight the dragons and instead fashions mechanical devices under his apprenticeship with Gobber the blacksmith, though his inventions often backfire. During one attack, Hiccup believes he has shot down a Night Fury, an extremely rare and dangerous dragon. Hiccup later finds it in the forest trapped in his bolas, but finds that he can't bring himself to kill the dragon and instead sets it free.

tag: p

text: Stoick assembles a fleet to find the dragons' nest, leaving Hiccup in a dragon-fighting class taught by Gobber. Hiccup returns to the forest to find the Night Fury still there, and realizes it is unable to fly properly because of its crippled caudal fin. Hiccup gradually tames the dragon and gives it the name "Toothless", for its retractable teeth. Hiccup makes a harness and prosthetic fin that allows him to guide the dragon in free flight. By studying Toothless's behavior, Hiccup becomes proficient in subduing the captive dragons during training. Stoick's fleet arrives home unsuccessful, but he is cheered by Hiccup's unexpected success.

text: Astrid, a tough Viking girl on whom Hiccup has a crush, discovers Hiccup is training Toothless, but Hiccup takes her for a ride to demonstrate his relationship with the dragon before she can tell the village. Toothless unexpectedly takes the pair to the dragons' nest where they discover a gargantuan dragon named the Red Death,2 which eats the smaller dragons unless they bring it stolen livestock.

text: Back at the village, Hiccup subdues a captive dragon in his final training test in front of his father instead of killing it, but Stoick's insistence of killing the dragon makes the Monstrous Nightmare revert into its regular state into attacking Hiccup. Toothless attempts to protect Hiccup in the ensuing panic but is instead captured by the Vikings. After a minor arguments, Hiccup accidentally reveals to Stoick that Toothless is capable of locating the dragons' nest. Stoick angrily disowns Hiccup as his son and sets off for the nest with Toothless chained to the lead ship as a guide.

text: The Vikings expel most of the dragons but are overwhelmed by the Red Death until Hiccup, Astrid and their fellow pupils fly in riding the training dragons from the academy and provide cover fire. Hiccup almost drowns trying to break Toothless free from a sinking ship but Stoick saves them both and then apologizes to his son for disowning him. Toothless and Hiccup destroy the Red Death but Hiccup is injured in the fight. Hiccup regains consciousness on Berk where his lower left leg has been replaced by a prosthesis, and the Vikings and the dragons now live in harmony.

text: Voice cast[edit]

text: Jay Baruchel as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III: companion of Toothless, a Night Fury.

tag: ul

text: Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast, the chieftain of the Viking tribe and Hiccup's father. A fierce, immensely strong and utterly fearless, warrior.

text: Craig Ferguson as Gobber the Belch: blacksmith, a close friend of Stoick's, and training master of the young warriors. He is the mediator between Hiccup and Stoick. He is missing his right foot and his left hand, the latter of which he has replaced with a variety of specialized prosthetics.[3]

text: America Ferrera as Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup's fellow student.

text: Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs Ingerman: an enthusiastic youth, knowledgeable in dragon lore narrated role-playing game terms.[4]

text:
Jonah Hill as Snotlout Jorgenson, one of Hiccup's dragon-training classmates. Snotlout is brash, overconfident, and fairly unintelligent, but reliable.
T. J. Miller and Kristen Wiig as Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston, a pair of quarrelsome twins.
David Tennant as Spitelout. A Viking who is not named in the film, he appears to be Stoick's second-in-command and Snotlout's father. Tennant has previously narrated a series of Hiccup adventures on audio book.[5]
Robin Atkin Downes as Ack
Philip McGrade as Starkard
Kieron Elliot as Hoark the Haggard
Ashley Jensen as Phlegma the Fierce

text: Production[edit]

text: The book series by Cressida Cowell began coming to attention to the executives at DreamWorks Animation in 2004. Coming off her success in Over the Hedge, producer Bonnie Arnold shortly became interested in the newly acquired property. She kept focusing on the project as time went on, and when DreamWorks Animation co-president of production Bill Damaschke asked her what she wanted to work on next, she chose “How to Train Your Dragon”.[6]

text: In initial development, the plot followed the original novel closely, but about halfway through production Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, the writer-directors of Disney's Lilo & Stitch, took over as co-directors and it was altered. The original plot was described as, "heavily loyal to the book", but was regarded as being too "sweet" and "whimsical" as well as geared towards a too-young demographic, according to Baruchel.[7] In the novel, Hiccup's dragon, Toothless, is a Common or Garden Dragon, a small breed. In the film, Toothless is a Night Fury, the rarest of all dragons, and is large enough to serve as a flying mount for both Hiccup and Astrid. The filmmakers hired cinematographer Roger Deakins (known for frequently collaborating with the Coen brothers) as a visual consultant to help them with lighting and overall look of the film and to "add a live-action feel".[7] Extensive research was done to depict both flight, as the directors knew they would be the biggest draw of the film's 3D effects, and fire, given animation could break away from the limitations seen in live-action films, where propane flames are usual due to being easier to extinguish. The dragons' design made sure to create animals that were comical and also innovative compared to other dragon fiction. Toothless in particular tried to combine various dragon traits in a black panther-inspired design, that also had large ears and eyes to convey emotion better.[8]

text: The directors made sure to cash in the improvisation abilities of the secondary cast—Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig and T.J Miller—by frequently bringing them together in the recording sessions.[2]

text: Music[edit]

text: John Powell returned to DreamWorks Animation to score How to Train Your Dragon, making it his sixth collaboration with the studio, following his previous score for Kung Fu Panda (which he scored with Hans Zimmer). Powell composed an orchestral score, combining bombastic brass with loud percussion and soothing strings, while also using exotic, Scottish and Irish tones with instruments like the penny whistle and bagpipes. Additionally, Icelandic singer Jónsi wrote and performed the song "Sticks & Stones" for the film. The score was released by Varèse Sarabande on March 23, 2010.

text: Overall, the score was well received by film score critics. Powell earned his first Academy Award nomination for his work on the film, ultimately losing to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their score for The Social Network.

text: Release[edit]

text: How to Train Your Dragon had its United States premiere on March 21, 2010, at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California.[9] It was theatrically released on March 26, 2010, in the United States.[10] The film was digitally re-mastered into IMAX 3D, and released to 186 North American IMAX theatres, and approximately 80 IMAX theatres outside North America.[10]

text: Competition for 3D screens[edit]

text: A month before the release, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg protested Warner Bros.' decision to convert Clash of the Titans from 2D to 3D, then to release it one week after How to Train Your Dragon.[11] Entertainment reporter Kim Masters described the 3D release schedule around March 2010 as a "traffic jam", and speculated that the lack of 3D screen availability could hurt Katzenberg's prospects despite his support of the 3D format.[12]

text: In March 2010, theater industry executives accused Paramount of using high-pressure tactics to coerce theaters to screen How to Train Your Dragon rather than the competing 3D releases, Clash of the Titans and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. As theater multiplexes often had just one 3D screen, theaters were unable to accommodate more than one 3D presentation at a time.[13]

text: Box-office[edit]

text: How to Train Your Dragon topped the North American box office with $43.7 million in its first weekend of release.[14] The film grossed $217,581,231 in the United States and Canada and $277,297,528 in foreign countries with a worldwide total of $494,878,759.[1] How to Train Your Dragon is DreamWorks Animation's highest-grossing film in the American and Canadian box office other than the Shrek films.[15] It is the fifth-highest-grossing animated film of 2010 with $494.8 million, behind Toy Story 3 with $1,063.2 million, Shrek Forever After with $752.6 million, Tangled with $576.6 million, and Despicable Me with $543.1 million and the 10th-highest-grossing movie of 2010.[16]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: How To Train Your Dragon received critical acclaim upon its release. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 98% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 200 reviews from professional critics, with an overall rating average of 7.9 out of 10.[17] The site's general consensus is that, "Boasting dazzling animation, a script with surprising dramatic depth, and thrilling 3-D sequences, How to Train Your Dragon soars."[17] By "Tomatometer" score, the film is DreamWorks Animation's highest-rated film. On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 0–100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 74 based on 33 reviews, indicating 'Generally favorable reviews.' [18] CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinemagoers gave How to Train Your Dragon was A on an A+ to F scale.[19]

text: Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 stars out of 4, stating that: "It devotes a great deal of time to aerial battles between tamed dragons and evil ones, and not much to character or story development. But it's bright, good-looking, and has high energy".[20] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars, saying, "It's a thrilling action-adventure saga with exhilarating 3-D animation, a clever comedy with witty dialogue, a coming-of-age tale with surprising depth and a sweetly poignant tale of friendship between man and animal."[21] Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers praised the film, giving it three out of four stars and in his print review wrote, "[The film] works enough miracles of 3-D animation to charm your socks off."[22] Roger Moore of The Orlando Sentinel, who gave the film 2½ stars out of 4, wrote a mixed review describing the film as a "more coming-of-age dramedy or 'everything about your world view is wrong' message movie than it is a comedy, and that seems like a waste of a funny book, some very funny actors and some darned witty animation."[23] Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film 2/4 stars labeling the film as, "Avatar for simpletons. But that title is already taken, by Avatar".[24] Contrarily, Brett Michel of The Boston Phoenix stated that the film was better than Avatar. A. O. Scott of At The Movies felt the characters and the story were not strong points, but loved the cinematography and said, "that swooping and soaring, they are worth the price of a ticket, so go see it."[25] Village Voice film critic Ella Taylor gave a more negative review of the film, describing it as an "adequate but unremarkable animated tale".[26] Film critic James Berardinelli of ReelViews praised the film and its story, giving it 3.5 out of 4 stars he wrote, "Technically proficient and featuring a witty, intelligent, surprisingly insightful script, How to Train Your Dragon comes close to the level of Pixar's recent output while easily exceeding the juvenilia DreamWorks has released in the last nine years."[27] Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman praised the film giving it an A- and wrote, "How to Train Your Dragon rouses you in conventional ways, but it's also the rare animated film that uses 3-D for its breathtaking spatial and emotional possibilities."[28] ViewLondon's Mathew Turner gave the film 4/5 stars, calling it, "beautifully animated and superbly written", and praised the voice cast, humor, and action. Matt Risley of Variety gave the film a perfect score of 5/5 stars, hailing it as, "undoubtedly Dreamworks' best film yet, and quite probably the best dragon movie ever made".

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Awards

Award
Category
Name
Outcome

Academy Awards[29]
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Original Score
John Powell

Alliance of Women Film Journalists[30]
Best Animated Feature

Best Animated Female
America Ferrera (Astrid)
Won

Annie Awards[31][32]
Annie Award for Best Animated Feature
Bonnie Arnold
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois

Annie Award for Best Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Brett Miller

Jason Mayer
Nominated

Annie Award for Best Character Animation in a Feature Production
Gabe Hordos
Won

Jakob Hjort Jensen
Nominated

David Torres

Annie Award for Best Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Nico Marlet
Won

Annie Award for Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois

Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production
John Powell

Annie Award for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Pierre-Olivier Vincent

Annie Award for Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Tom Owens

Alessandro Carloni
Nominated

Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Jay Baruchel (Hiccup)
Won

Gerard Butler (Stoick)
Nominated

Annie Award for Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production
William Davies
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois
Won

British Academy Film Awards[33]
BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film

Nominated

BAFTA Award for Best Film Music
John Powell

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[34]
Best Animated Film
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois

Critics' Choice Awards[35]
Best Animated Feature Film

Genesis Awards[36]
Best Feature Film

Won

Golden Globe Awards[37]
Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film

Nominated

Golden Reel Awards[38]
Best Sound Editing in an Animated Feature Film

Won

International Film Music Critics Association[39][40]
Film Score of the Year
John Powell

Best Original Score for an Animated Feature
John Powell

Film Music Composition of the Year
John Powell – "Forbidden Friendship"
Nominated

John Powell – "Test Drive"

Kids' Choice Awards[41]
Favorite Animated Movie

Online Film Critics Society Awards[42]
Best Animated Feature
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois

People's Choice Awards[43]
Favorite Family Movie

Satellite Awards[44]
Motion Picture (Animated or Mixed)

Saturn Awards[45]
Saturn Award for Best Music
John Powell

Saturn Award for Best Production Design
Kathy Altieri

Saturn Award for Best Animated Film
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois

Teen Choice Awards[46]
Choice Animated Movie

Toronto Film Critics Association[47]
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film

Won

Venice Film Festival[48]
Most Creative 3D Film of the Year
Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
Tied with James Cameron for Avatar

Visual Effects Society[49]
Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Simon Otto
Craig Ring
Bonnie Arnold

Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Gabe Hordos
Cassidy Curtis
Mariette Marinus
Brent Watkins

Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Andy Hayes
Laurent Kermel
Jason Mayer
Brett Miller

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards[50]
Best Animated Feature
Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois
Nominated

World Soundtrack Academy[51]
World Soundtrack Award for Soundtrack Composer of the Year
John Powell

World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film
Jón Þór Birgisson

tag: table

text: Home media[edit]

text: How to Train Your Dragon was released on single-disc DVD, two-disc double DVD pack and Blu-ray/DVD combo pack in Canada and the United States on Friday, October 15, 2010. Among the features available in the two-disc DVD edition is an original sequel short film, Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon. As of July 18, 2012, units sold for the DVD stand at more than 6.5 million copies and has grossed $121,663,692.[52]

text: Samsung signed a deal with DreamWorks to gain exclusive distribution rights to a Blu-ray 3D version of the film. The exclusive agreement ended on September 11, 2011, when How to Train Your Dragon - 3D was released in a two-disc Blu-ray combo pack.

text: It was re-released by Paramount Home Entertainment on Blu-ray and DVD on May 27, 2014.[53]

text: Expanded franchise[edit]

text: Sequels[edit]

text: A sequel, How to Train Your Dragon 2, was confirmed on April 27, 2010.[54] The film was directed and written by Dean DeBlois, the co-director of the first film. Bonnie Arnold, the producer of the first film, also returned.[55] The film was released on June 13, 2014 by 20th Century Fox, to critical acclaim.[56][57] The entire original voice cast—Baruchel, Butler, Ferguson, Ferrera, Hill, Mintz-Plasse, Miller,and Wiig—returned for the sequel[58] with the addition of Cate Blanchett, Djimon Hounsou, and Kit Harington.

text: A third film, How to Train Your Dragon 3, is in development. The film will also be directed and written by DeBlois, produced by Bonnie Arnold, and exec-produced by Chris Sanders, with all the main cast set to return. Cate Blanchett and Djimon Hounsou will also reprise their roles as Valka and Drago respectively from the second film.[59][60] It is scheduled to be released on March 1, 2019 by Universal Pictures.[61]

text: Short films[edit]

text: Four post-movie short films were released: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010), Book of Dragons (2011), Gift of the Night Fury (2011), and Dawn of the Dragon Racers (2014).[citation needed]

text: Television series[edit]

text: A television series based on the film premiered on Cartoon Network in Autumn 2012. Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and T. J. Miller reprise their roles as Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Tuffnut. The series follows Hiccup and his friends as they learn more about dragons, discover new ones, teach others to feel comfortable around them, adapt traditions within the village to fit their new friends and battle against enemies as they explore new worlds. Hiccup has been made head of Berk Dragon Academy.[62]

text: Video games[edit]

text: An action adventure video game released by Activision, called How to Train Your Dragon, was released for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo DS gaming consoles. It is loosely based on the film and was released on March 23, 2010.

text: School of Dragons, a 3D free-to-play MMO, was released on July 17, 2013, at the San Diego Comic-Con.[63][64] The game is available for PC, Android and iOS.[65]

text: Arena show[edit]

text: How To Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular is an arena show adaptation of the first film featuring 24 animatronic dragons, acrobats and projections. It premiered on March 2, 2012, in Melbourne, Australia.[66]


question_text: who has scored the most goals in international soccer

text: List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals[edit]

text: As of 6 July 2018. Players in bold are still active at international level.

text:
Indicates the FIFA world top scorer.

Indicates the top scorer of the respective confederation.

Indicates the top scorer of the respective nation.

text:
#

Name

Nation

Confederation

International  goals

Caps

Goals  per match

Career span

Notes

1

Ali Daei

 Iran

AFC

109
149
0.73
1993–2006
[1]

2

Cristiano Ronaldo

 Portugal

UEFA

85
154
0.56
2003–

3

Ferenc Puskás

 Hungary
 Spain

UEFA

84
89
0.94
1945–1962

4

Kunishige Kamamoto

 Japan

AFC

80
84
0.95
1964–1977

5

Godfrey Chitalu

 Zambia

CAF

79
108
0.71
1968–1980
[2]

6

Hussein Saeed

 Iraq

AFC

78
137
0.57
1977–1990

7

Pelé

 Brazil

CONMEBOL

77
91
0.85
1957–1971
[3]

8

Sándor Kocsis

 Hungary

UEFA

75
68
1.10
1948–1956

Bashar Abdullah

 Kuwait

AFC

75
134
0.56
1996–2018

10

Kinnah Phiri

 Malawi

CAF

71
115
0.62
1973–1981

Majed Abdullah

 Saudi Arabia

AFC

71
116
0.61
1977–1994

Kiatisuk Senamuang

 Thailand

AFC

71
134
0.53
1993–2007

Miroslav Klose

 Germany

UEFA

71
137
0.52
2001–2014

14

Piyapong Pue-on

 Thailand

AFC

70
100
0.70
1981–1997

Stern John

 Trinidad and Tobago

CONCACAF

70
115
0.61
1995–2012

Hossam Hassan

 Egypt

CAF

70
169
0.41
1985–2006
[4][5]

17

Gerd Müller

 West Germany

UEFA

68
62
1.10
1966–1974

Carlos Ruiz

 Guatemala

CONCACAF

68
132
0.52
1998–2016

Robbie Keane

 Republic of Ireland

UEFA

68
146
0.46
1998–2016[6]
[1][7][8]

20

Didier Drogba

 Ivory Coast

CAF

65
104
0.61
2002–2014
[9]

Lionel Messi

 Argentina

CONMEBOL

65
128
0.51
2005–
[10]

22

Sunil Chhetri

 India

AFC

64
101
0.63
2005–

23

Ronaldo

 Brazil

CONMEBOL

62
98
0.63
1994–2011

Zlatan Ibrahimović

 Sweden

UEFA

62
116
0.53
2001–2016

Ahmed Radhi

 Iraq

AFC

62
121
0.51
1982–1997

26

Imre Schlosser

 Hungary

UEFA

59
68
0.87
1906–1927

David Villa

 Spain

UEFA
59
98
0.60
2005–

28

Cha Bum-kun

 South Korea

AFC

58
135
0.42
1972–1986

29

Neymar

 Brazil

CONMEBOL

57
90
0.63
2010–

Carlos Pavón

 Honduras

CONCACAF

57
101
0.56
1993–2010

Clint Dempsey

 United States

CONCACAF

57
141
0.40
2004–2018

Landon Donovan

 United States

CONCACAF

57
157
0.36
2000–2014

Younis Mahmoud

 Iraq

AFC

57
148
0.39
2002–2016

34

Romário

 Brazil

CONMEBOL

55
70
0.79
1987–2005

Kazuyoshi Miura

 Japan

AFC

55
89
0.62
1990–2000

Jan Koller

 Czech Republic

UEFA

55
91
0.60
1999–2009

Robert Lewandowski

 Poland

UEFA

55
98
0.56
2008–

Fandi Ahmad

 Singapore

AFC

55
101
0.55
1979–1997

Bader Al-Mutawa

 Kuwait

AFC

55
162
0.32
2003–

40

Gabriel Batistuta

 Argentina

CONMEBOL

54
77
0.70
1991–2002

Samuel Eto'o

 Cameroon

CAF

54
118
0.46
1997–2014
[11]

42

Joachim Streich

 East Germany

UEFA

53
98
0.54
1969–1984
[12]

Luis Suárez

 Uruguay

CONMEBOL

53
103
0.51
2007–

Wayne Rooney

 England

UEFA

53
119
0.44
2003–2016

45

Poul Nielsen

 Denmark

UEFA

52
38
1.37
1910–1925

Ali Ashfaq

 Maldives

AFC

52
78
0.66
2003–

Edin Džeko

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

UEFA

52
89
0.59
2007–

Jon Dahl Tomasson

 Denmark

UEFA

52
112
0.46
1997–2010

Adnan Al Talyani

 United Arab Emirates

AFC

52
161
0.32
1983–1997

50

Lajos Tichy

 Hungary

UEFA

51
72
0.71
1955–1971

Lê Công Vinh

 Vietnam

AFC

51
83
0.61
2004–2016

Asamoah Gyan

 Ghana

CAF

51
106
0.48
2003–

Hakan Şükür

 Turkey

UEFA

51
112
0.46
1992–2007

Thierry Henry

 France

UEFA

51
123
0.41
1997–2010

55

Karim Bagheri

 Iran

AFC

50
87
0.58
1993–2010

Phil Younghusband

 Philippines

AFC

50
97
0.52
2006–

Robin van Persie

 Netherlands

UEFA

50
102
0.49
2005–

Hwang Sun-hong

 South Korea

AFC

50
103
0.49
1988–2002

Javier Hernández

 Mexico

CONCACAF

50
106
0.48
2009–

Tim Cahill

 Australia

OFC/AFC

50
107
0.47
2004–

Shinji Okazaki

 Japan

AFC

50
116
0.43
2008–

text: Number of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals by country[edit]

text:
Footballers

Country

Confederation

4
 Brazil
CONMEBOL

 Hungary
UEFA

3
 Iraq
AFC

 Japan
AFC

2
 Argentina
CONMEBOL

 Denmark
UEFA

 Germany(including  West Germany)
UEFA

 Iran
AFC

 Kuwait
AFC

 South Korea
AFC

 Thailand
AFC

 United States
CONCACAF

1
 Australia
OFC through 2005AFC 2006–present

 Bosnia and Herzegovina
UEFA

 Cameroon
CAF

 Czech Republic
UEFA

 Egypt
CAF

 England
UEFA

 France
UEFA

 East Germany
UEFA

 Ghana
CAF

 Guatemala
CONCACAF

 Honduras
CONCACAF

 India
AFC

 Ivory Coast
CAF

 Malawi
CAF

 Maldives
AFC

 Mexico
CONCACAF

 Netherlands
UEFA

 Philippines
AFC

 Poland
UEFA

 Portugal
UEFA

 Republic of Ireland
UEFA

 Saudi Arabia
AFC

 Singapore
AFC

 Spain
UEFA

 Sweden
UEFA

 Trinidad and Tobago
CONCACAF

 Turkey
UEFA

 United Arab Emirates
AFC

 Uruguay
CONMEBOL

 Vietnam
AFC

 Zambia
CAF

text: Number of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals by Confederation[edit]

text:
Footballers

Confederation

22
AFC

20
UEFA

7
CONMEBOL

6
CAF

6
CONCACAF

0
OFC

61
Total


document_title: Days of Our Lives cast members

question_text: who is leaving days of our lives cast

question_tokens: who is leaving days of our lives cast

text: Days of Our Lives cast members

text: Cast

text: Main cast

text:
Actor
Character
Duration

Lucas Adams
Tripp Dalton
2017–

Kristian Alfonso
Hope Williams Brady
1983–87, 1990, 1994–

Gina Von Amberg
1998–2001, 2012

Lamon Archey
Eli Grant
2017–

Camila Banus
Gabi Hernandez
2010–

Nadia Bjorlin
Chloe Lane
1999–2005, 2007–11, 2013, 2015–

Mary Beth Evans
Kayla Brady
1986–92, 2006–

Billy Flynn
Chad DiMera
2014–

Galen Gering
Rafe Hernandez
2008–

Rafe Hernandez 2
2011

Deidre Hall
Dr. Marlena Evans
1976–87, 1991–2009, 2011–

Samantha Evans
1992, 2008

Hattie Adams
2004, 2016–

Drake Hogestyn
John Black
1986–2009, 2011–

Olivia Rose Keegan
Claire Brady
2015–

Lauren Koslow
Kate Roberts
1996–

Eric Martsolf
Brady Black
2008–

Chandler Massey
Will Horton
2010–14, 2017–

Marci Miller
Abigail Deveraux
2016–

Peggy McCay
Caroline Brady
1983, 1985–

Casey Moss
JJ Deveraux
2013–

Stephen Nichols
Steve Johnson
1985–90, 2006–09, 2015–

Thaao Penghlis
Tony DiMera
1981–85, 2007–09

André DiMera
1983–84, 1993–96, 2002–05, 2007, 2015–

Kyler Pettis
Theo Carver
2015–

Melissa Reeves
Jennifer Horton
1985–95, 2000–06, 2010–

James Reynolds
Abe Carver
1981–

Suzanne Rogers
Maggie Horton Kiriakis
1973–

Charles Shaughnessy
Shane Donovan
1984–92, 2002, 2010, 2012–13, 2016–

Drew Donovan
1988–89, 2017–[6]

Christopher Sean
Paul Narita
2014–

Freddie Smith
Sonny Kiriakis
2011–

Sal Stowers
Lani Price
2015–

Josh Taylor
Chris Kositchek
1977–87

Roman Brady
1997–

Greg Vaughan
Eric Brady
2012–

Vanessa A. Williams
Valerie Grant
2016–

Arianne Zucker
Nicole Walker
1998–2006, 2008–

Helena Tasso
2016

text: Recurring cast

text:
Actor
Character
Duration

Réal Andrews
Robert Parry
1995

Hal Michaels
2016–

John Aniston
Eric Richards
1970

Victor Kiriakis
1985–

Julian Barnes
Harold
2009–

Jaime Lyn Bauer
Laura Horton
1993–99, 2003, 2010, 2013, 2016–

Kurt Caceres
Guillermo
2016–

Annalisa Cochrane
Alyssa
2017–

Bryan Dattilo
Lucas Horton
1993–2010, 2012–

Andy Demetrio
Milos
2017–

Kassie DePaiva
Eve Donovan
2014–

Robb Derringer
Scooter Nelson
2017–

Judi Evans
Adrienne Johnson Kiriakis
1986–91, 2007–08, 2010–

Bonnie Lockhart
2003–07, 2017–

Siena Goines
Carol Michaels
1997

Simone
2016–

Bill Hayes
Doug Williams
1970–84, 1986–87, 1993–96, 1999–

Byron Carmichael
1979

Wally Kurth
Justin Kiriakis
1987–91, 2009–

Jennifer Landon
Hillary
2017–

Mark Laursen
Petrov
2016–

Ron Leath
Henderson
1987–2004, 2008–

Spencer Neville
Derrick
2014–

Meredith Scott Lynn
Anne Milbauer
2012–

Susan Seaforth Hayes
Julie Olson Williams
1968–84, 1990–96, 1999–

Harper & Sydnee Udell
Arianna Horton
2013–

Tionne Watkins
Sheila
2016–

Connor Weil
Mark McNair
2016–

Craig Welzbacher
Myron
2016–

Aloma Wright
Maxine Landis
2008–

text: Cast changes

text: Debuting

text:
Actor
Character
Date
Ref.

Victoria Konefal
Ciara Brady
December 2017
[7][8]

text: Departing

text:
Actor
Character
Date
Ref.

Arianne Zucker
Nicole Walker
November 2017
[9][10][11][12]

text: Returning

text:
Actor
Character
Date
Ref.

Robert Scott Wilson
Ben Rogers
September 25, 2017
[13][14]

Alison Sweeney
Sami Brady
October 13, 2017
[15][16]

Eileen Davidson
Role TBC
November 2017
[17][18]

Brandon Beemer
Shawn-Douglas Brady
December 2017
[7][19]

Martha Madison
Belle Brady
[7][19]

Tyler Christopher
TBA
January 2018
[20]

Louise Sorel
Vivian Alamain
[21]

Lisa Rinna
Billie Reed
TBA
[22][23]


document_title: History of Microsoft

question_text: who did microsoft strike a deal with to provide dos operating system

text: History of Microsoft

text: 1972–1985: The founding of Microsoft[edit]

text: The idea that would spawn Microsoft initiated when Paul Allen showed Bill Gates the first of January, 1975 issue of Popular Electronics that demonstrated the Altair 8800.[8] Allen and Gates saw potential to develop an implementation of the programming language BASIC interpreter for the system.[9] Bill Gates called the creators of the new microcomputer, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), offering to demonstrate the implementation in order to win a contract with the company. Allen and Gates had neither an interpreter nor an Altair system, yet in the eight weeks before the demo, they developed an interpreter. When Allen flew to Albuquerque to meet with MITS, the interpreter worked and MITS agreed to distribute Altair BASIC.[10] Allen and Gates left Boston, where Allen worked for Honeywell and Gates was enrolled in Harvard,[11] moved to Albuquerque (where MITS was located), and co-founded Microsoft there. Revenues of the company totaled $16,005 by the end of 1976.

text: Allen came up with the original name of Micro-Soft, a portmanteau of microcomputer and software.[12] Hyphenated in its early incarnations, on November 26, 1976 the company was registered under that name with the Secretary of State of New Mexico. The company's first international office was founded on November 1, 1978, in Japan, entitled "ASCII Microsoft" (now called "Microsoft Japan"), and on November 29, 1979, the term, "Microsoft" was first used by Bill Gates.[8] On January 1, 1979, the company moved from Albuquerque to a new home in Bellevue, Washington,[8] since it was hard to recruit top programmers to Albuquerque. Shortly before the move, eleven of the then-thirteen employees posed for the staff photo on the right.[13]

text: Steve Ballmer joined the company on June 11, 1980, and would later succeed Bill Gates as CEO[8] from January 2000 until February 2014. The company restructured on June 25, 1981, to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington (with a further change of its name to "Microsoft Corporation, Inc."). As part of the restructuring, Bill Gates became president of the company and chairman of the board, and Paul Allen became Executive Vice President.[8]

text: Microsoft's early products were different variants of Microsoft BASIC which was the dominant programming language in late 1970s and early 1980s home computers such as Apple II (Applesoft BASIC) and Commodore 64 (Commodore BASIC), and were also provided with early versions of the IBM PC as the IBM Cassette BASIC.

text: Microsoft also marketed through an Apple dealer in West Palm Beach, Florida two products for the Radio-Shack TRS-80. One was "Typing Tutor" which led the user through learning to use a keyboard. The other was authored by a professor at the University of Hawaii called "MuMATH" and had the ability to do mathematics in long integer math to avoid floating point numbers. In this sense it was similar to the early ARPANET.

text: The first hardware product[14] was the Z-80 SoftCard which enabled the Apple II to run the CP/M operating system, at the time an industry-standard operating system for running business software and many compilers and interpreters for several high-level languages on microcomputers. The SoftCard was first demonstrated publicly at the West Coast Computer Faire in March 1980.[15][16] It was an immediate success; 5,000 cards, a large number given the microcomputer market at the time, were purchased in the initial three months at $349 each and it was Microsoft's number one revenue source in 1980.[17]

text: The first operating system publicly released by the company was a variant of Unix announced on August 25, 1980. Acquired from AT&T through a distribution license, Microsoft dubbed it Xenix, and hired Santa Cruz Operation in order to port/adapt the operating system to several platforms.[18][19] This Unix variant would become home to the first version of Microsoft's word processor, Microsoft Word. Originally titled "Multi-Tool Word", Microsoft Word became notable for its use of "What You See Is What You Get", or WYSIWYG pioneered by the Xerox Alto and the Bravo text editor in the 1970s.[20][21]

text: Word was first released in the spring of 1983, and free demonstration copies of the application were bundled with the November 1983 issue of PC World, making it the first program to be distributed on-disk with a magazine.[22] However, Xenix was never sold to end users directly although it was licensed to many software OEMs for resale. It grew to become the most popular version of Unix, measured by the number of machines running it[23] (note that Unix is a multi-user operating system, allowing simultaneous access to a machine by several users). By the mid-1980s Microsoft had gotten out of the Unix business, except for an interest in SCO.[18]

text: DOS (Disk Operating System) was the operating system that brought the company its real success. IBM first approached Microsoft about its upcoming IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) in July 1980.[24] On August 12, 1981, after negotiations with Digital Research failed, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft to provide a version of the CP/M operating system, which was set to be used in the IBM PC. For this deal, Microsoft purchased a CP/M clone called 86-DOS from Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products for less than US$100,000, which IBM renamed to IBM PC DOS. Microsoft did not have an operating system when they closed the deal with IBM and IBM had not done their homework. Due to potential copyright infringement problems with CP/M, IBM marketed both CP/M and PC DOS for US$240 and US$40, respectively, with PC DOS eventually becoming the standard because of its lower price.[25][26] 35 of the company's 100 employees worked on the IBM project for more than a year. When the IBM PC debuted, Microsoft was the only company that offered operating system, programming language, and application software for the new computer.[24]

text: InfoWorld stated in 1984 that Microsoft, with $55 million in 1983 sales,[27]

text: is widely recognized as the most influential company in the microcomputer-software industry. Claiming more than a million installed MS-DOS machines, founder and chairman Bill Gates has decided to certify Microsoft's jump on the rest of the industry by dominating applications, operating systems, peripherals and, most recently, book publishing. Some insiders say Microsoft is attempting to be the IBM of the software industry.

text: In 1983, in collaboration with numerous companies, Microsoft created a home computer system, MSX, which contained its own version of the DOS operating system, called MSX-DOS; this became relatively popular in Japan, Europe and South America.[10][28][29] Later, the market saw a flood of IBM PC clones after Columbia Data Products successfully cloned the IBM BIOS, quickly followed by Eagle Computer and Compaq.[30][31][32][33] The deal with IBM allowed Microsoft to have control of its own QDOS derivative, MS-DOS, and through aggressive marketing of the operating system to manufacturers of IBM-PC clones Microsoft rose from a small player to one of the major software vendors in the home computer industry.[34] With the release of the Microsoft Mouse on May 2, 1983, Microsoft continued to expand its product line in other markets. This expansion included Microsoft Press, a book publishing division, on July 11 the same year, which debuted with two titles: Exploring the IBM PCjr Home Computer by Peter Norton, and The Apple Macintosh Book by Cary Lu.[8]

text: 1985–1994: Windows and Office[edit]

text: Ireland became home to one of Microsoft's international production facilities in 1985, and on November 20 Microsoft released its first retail version of Microsoft Windows (Windows 1.0), originally a graphical extension for its MS-DOS operating system.[8] In August, Microsoft and IBM partnered in the development of a different operating system called OS/2. OS/2 was marketed in connection with a new hardware design proprietary to IBM, the PS/2.[36] On February 16, 1986, Microsoft relocated their headquarters to a corporate office campus in Redmond, Washington. Around one month later, on March 13, the company went public with an IPO, raising US$61 million at US$21.00 per share. By the end of the trading day, the price had risen to US$28.00. In 1987, Microsoft eventually released their first version of OS/2 to OEMs.[37] By then the company was the world's largest producer of software for personal computers—ahead of former leader Lotus Development—and published the three most-popular Macintosh business applications.[38] That year the company purchased Forethought, the developer of PowerPoint and Microsoft's first major software acquisition.[39]

text: Meanwhile, Microsoft began introducing its most prominent office products. Microsoft Works, an integrated office program which combined features typically found in a word processor, spreadsheet, database and other office applications, saw its first release as an application for the Apple Macintosh towards the end of 1986.[10] Microsoft Works would later be sold with other Microsoft products including Microsoft Word and Microsoft Bookshelf, a reference collection introduced in 1987 that was the company's first CD-ROM product.[8][40] Later, on August 8, 1989, Microsoft introduced its most successful office product, Microsoft Office. Unlike the model of Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office was a bundle of separate office productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and so forth. While Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office were mostly developed internally, Microsoft also continued its trend of rebranding products from other companies, such as Microsoft SQL Server on January 13, 1988, a relational database management system for companies that was based on technology licensed from Sybase.[8]

text: On May 22, 1990 Microsoft launched Windows 3.0.[10] The new version of Microsoft's operating system boasted new features such as streamlined graphic user interface GUI and improved protected mode ability for the Intel 386 processor; it sold over 100,000 copies in two weeks.[10][41] Windows at the time generated more revenue for Microsoft than OS/2, and the company decided to move more resources from OS/2 to Windows.[42] In an internal memo to Microsoft employees on May 16, 1991, Bill Gates announced that the OS/2 partnership was over, and that Microsoft would henceforth focus its platform efforts on Windows and the Windows NT kernel. Some people, especially developers who had ignored Windows and committed most of their resources to OS/2, were taken by surprise, and accused Microsoft of deception. This changeover from OS/2 was frequently referred to in the industry as "the head-fake".[43][44] In the recent years, the popularity of OS/2 declined, and Windows quickly became the favored PC platform. 1991 also marked the founding of Microsoft Research, an organization in Microsoft for researching computer science subjects, and Microsoft Visual Basic, a popular development product for companies and individuals.[8]

text: During the transition from MS-DOS to Windows, the success of Microsoft's product Microsoft Office allowed the company to gain ground on application-software competitors, such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3.[10][45] Novell, an owner of WordPerfect for a time, alleged that Microsoft used its inside knowledge of the DOS and Windows kernels and of undocumented Application Programming Interface features to make Office perform better than its competitors.[46] Eventually, Microsoft Office became the dominant business suite, with a market share far exceeding that of its competitors.[47] In March 1992, Microsoft released Windows 3.1 along with its first promotional campaign on TV; the software sold over three million copies in its first two months on the market.[8][10] In October, Windows for Workgroups 3.1 was released with integrated networking abilities such as peer-to-peer file and printing sharing.[10] In November, Microsoft released the first version of their popular database software Microsoft Access.[10]

text: By 1993, Windows had become the most widely used GUI operating system in the world.[10] Fortune Magazine named Microsoft as the "1993 Most Innovative Company Operating in the U.S."[48] The year also marked the end of a five-year copyright infringement legal case brought by Apple Computer, dubbed Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., in which the ruling was in Microsoft's favor. Microsoft also released Windows for Workgroups 3.11, a new version of the consumer line of Windows, and Windows NT 3.1, a server-based operating system with a similar user interface to consumer versions of the operating system, but with an entirely different kernel.[10] As part of its strategy to broaden its business, Microsoft released Microsoft Encarta on March 22, 1993, the first encyclopedia designed to run on a computer.[8] Soon after, the Microsoft Home brand was introduced – encompassing Microsoft's new multimedia applications for Windows 3.x., Microsoft changed its slogan to "Where do you want to go today?" in 1994 as part of an attempt to appeal to nontechnical audiences in a US$100 million advertising campaign.[10]

text: 1995–2007: Foray into the Web, Windows 95, Windows XP, and Xbox[edit]

text: Microsoft continued to make strategic decisions directed at consumers. The company released Microsoft Bob, a graphical user interface designed for novice computer users, in March 1995. The interface was discontinued in 1996 due to poor sales; Bill Gates later attributed its failure to hardware requirements that were too high for typical computers, and is widely regarded as one of Microsoft's most unsuccessful products.[49][50][why?] DreamWorks SKG and Microsoft formed a new company, DreamWorks Interactive (in 2000 acquired by Electronic Arts which named it EA Los Angeles), to produce interactive and multimedia entertainment properties.[8] On August 24, 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, a new version of the company's flagship operating system which featured a completely new user interface, including a novel start button; more than a million copies were sold in the first four days after its release.[10]

text: Windows 95 was released without a web browser as Microsoft had not yet developed one. The success of the web caught them by surprise and they subsequently approached Spyglass to license their browser as Internet Explorer. Spyglass went on to later dispute the terms of the agreement, as Microsoft was to pay a royalty for every copy sold. However, Microsoft sold no copies of Internet Explorer, choosing instead to bundle it for free with the operating system.

text: Internet Explorer was first included in the Windows 95 Plus! Pack that was released in August 1995.[51] In September, the Chinese government chose Windows to be the operating system of choice in that country, and entered into an agreement with the company to standardize a Chinese version of the operating system.[10] Microsoft also released the Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro joystick in an attempt to further expand its profile in the computer hardware market.[10]

text: On May 26, 1995, Bill Gates sent the "Internet Tidal Wave" memorandum to Microsoft executives. The memo described Netscape with their Netscape Navigator as a "new competitor 'born' on the Internet." The memo outlines Microsoft's failure to grasp the Internet's importance, and in it Gates assigned "the Internet the highest level of importance" from then on.[52] Microsoft began to expand its product line into computer networking and the World Wide Web. On August 24, 1995, it launched a major online service, MSN (Microsoft Network), as a direct competitor to AOL. MSN became an umbrella service for Microsoft's online services, using Microsoft Passport (now called a Microsoft account) as a universal login system for all of its web sites.[8][10][53] The company continued to branch out into new markets in 1996, starting with a joint venture with NBC to create a new 24-hour cable news television station, MSNBC. The station was launched on July 15, 1996 to compete with similar news outlets such as CNN.[10][54] Microsoft also launched Slate, an online magazine edited by Michael Kinsley, which offered political and social commentary along with the cartoon Doonesbury.[8] In an attempt to extend its reach in the consumer market, the company acquired WebTV, which enabled consumers to access the Web from their televisions.[8] Microsoft entered the personal digital assistant (PDA) market in November with Windows CE 1.0, a new built-from-scratch version of their flagship operating system, designed to run on low-memory, low-performance machines, such as handhelds and other small computers.[55] 1996 saw the release of Windows NT 4.0, which brought the Windows 95 GUI and Windows NT kernel together.[56]

text: While Microsoft largely failed to participate in the rise of the Internet in the early 1990s, some of the key technologies in which the company had invested to enter the Internet market started to pay off by the mid-90s. One of the most prominent of these was ActiveX, an application programming interface built on the Microsoft Component Object Model (COM); this enabled Microsoft and others to embed controls in many programming languages, including the company's own scripting languages, such as JScript and VBScript. ActiveX included frameworks for documents and server solutions.[10] The company also released the Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, which had built-in support for internet applications.[10] Later in 1997, Microsoft Office 97 as well as Internet Explorer 4.0 were released, marking the beginning of the takeover of the browser market from rival Netscape, and by agreement with Apple Computer, Internet Explorer was bundled with the Apple Macintosh operating system as well as with Windows.[10] Windows CE 2.0, the handheld version of Windows, was released this year, including a host of bug fixes and new features designed to make it more appealing to corporate customers.[55] In October, the Justice Department filed a motion in the federal district court in which they stated that Microsoft had violated an agreement signed in 1994, and asked the court to stop the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows.[8]

text: The year 1998 was significant in Microsoft's history, with Bill Gates appointing Steve Ballmer as president of Microsoft but remaining as Chair and CEO himself.[8] The company released an update to the consumer version of Windows, Windows 98.[8] Windows 98 came with Internet Explorer 4.0 SP1 (which had Windows Desktop Update bundled), and included new features from Windows 95 OSR 2.x including the FAT32 file system, and new features designed for Windows 98, such as support for multiple displays.[57] Microsoft launched its Indian headquarters as well, which would eventually become the company's second largest after its U.S. headquarters.[10] Finally, a great deal of controversy took place when a set of internal memos from the company were leaked on the Internet. These documents, colloquially referred to as "The Halloween Documents", were widely reported by the media and went into detail of the threats that free software / open source software poses to Microsoft's own software, previously voiced mainly by analysts and advocates of open source software. The documents also alluded to legal and other actions against Linux as well as other open source software.[58][59] While Microsoft acknowledged the documents, it claimed that they are merely engineering studies. Despite this, some believe that these studies were used in the real strategies of the company.[60]

text: Microsoft, in 2000, released new products for all three lines of the company's flagship operating system, and saw the beginning of the end of one of its most prominent legal cases. On February 17, Microsoft released an update to its business line of software in Windows 2000. It provided a high level of stability similar to that of its Unix counterparts due to its usage of the Windows NT kernel, and matching features found in the consumer line of the Windows operating system including a DOS emulator that could run many legacy DOS applications.[10]

text: On April 3, 2000, a judgment was handed down in the case of United States v. Microsoft Corp.,[61] calling the company an "abusive monopoly"[62] and forcing the company to split into two separate units. Part of this ruling was later overturned by a federal appeals court, and eventually settled with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2001. On June 15, 2000, the company released a new version of its hand-held operating system, Windows CE 3.0.[55] The main change was the new programming APIs of the software. Previous versions of Windows CE supported only a small subset of the WinAPI, the main development library for Windows, and with Version 3 of Windows CE, the operating system now supported nearly all of the core functionality of the WinAPI. The next update to the consumer line, Windows ME (or Windows Millennium Edition), was released on September 14, 2000.[8] It sported several new features such as enhanced multimedia abilities and consumer-oriented PC maintenance options, but is often regarded as one of the worst versions of Windows due to stability problems, restricted real mode DOS support and other issues.[50][63]

text: Microsoft released Windows XP and Office XP in 2001, a version that aimed to encompass the features of both its business and home product lines. The release included an updated version of the Windows 2000 kernel, enhanced DOS emulation abilities, and many of the home-user features found in previous consumer versions. XP introduced a new graphical user interface, the first such change since Windows 95.[8][64] The operating system was the first to require Microsoft Product Activation, an anti-piracy mechanism that requires users to activate the software with Microsoft within 30 days. Later, Microsoft would enter the multibillion-dollar game console market dominated by Sony and Nintendo, with the release of the Xbox.[8] The Xbox finished behind the dominant PlayStation 2 selling 24 million units compared to 155 million overall; however they managed to outsell the GameCube which sold 21 million units. Microsoft launched their second console, the Xbox 360, in 2005 – which has turned out to be a lot more successful than their first console. It has sold 40 million units as of 2010 and it has outsold Sony's PlayStation 3 which has so far sold 35 million units. However, despite beating Sony with their last Xbox console, Microsoft so far has been outsold by the Wii which introduced gesture control and opened up a new market for video games. Microsoft later used their popular controller-free Kinect peripheral to increase the popularity of the Xbox. This was very successful. As of 2011[update] Kinect was the fastest selling consumer electronics product in history.[65] It sold 8 million units from November 4, 2010 to January 3, 2011 (its first 60 days). It averaged 133,333 units per day, outselling the iPhone and iPad over equivalent post-launch periods.[65]

text: In 2002, Microsoft launched the .NET initiative, along with new versions of some of its development products, such as Microsoft Visual Studio.[8] The initiative has been an entirely new development API for Windows programming, and included a new programming language, C#. Windows Server 2003 was launched, featuring enhanced administration abilities, such as new user interfaces to server tools.[10] In 2004, the company released Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, a version of Windows XP designed for multimedia abilities, and Windows XP Starter Edition, a version of Windows XP with a smaller feature set designed for entry-level consumers.[8] However, Microsoft encountered more turmoil in March 2004 when antitrust legal action would be brought against it by the European Union for allegedly abusing its market dominance (see Microsoft Corp v Commission). Eventually Microsoft was fined €497 million (US$613 million), ordered to divulge certain protocols to competitors, and to produce a new version of its Windows XP platform—called Windows XP Home Edition N—that did not include its Windows Media Player.[66][67] Microsoft was also ordered to produce separate packages of Windows after South Korea also landed a settlement against the company in 2005. It had to pay out US$32 million and produce more than one version of Windows for the country in the same vein as the European Union-one with Windows Media Player and Windows Messenger and one without the two programs.[68]

text: In guise of competing with other Internet Companies such as the search service Google, in 2005 Microsoft announced a new version of its MSN search service.[69] Later, in 2006, the company launched Microsoft adCenter, a service that offers pay per click advertisements, in an effort to further develop their search marketing revenue.[70] Soon afterward, Microsoft created the CodePlex collaborative development site for hosting open source projects. Activity grew quickly as developers from around the world began to participate, and by early 2007 commercial open source companies, such as Aras Corp,.[71] began to offer enterprise open source software exclusively on the Microsoft platform.

text: On June 15, 2006, Bill Gates announced his plans for a two-year transition period out of a day-to-day role with Microsoft until July 31, 2008. After that date, Gates will continue in his role as the company's chairman, head of the board of directors and act as an adviser on key projects. His role as Chief Software Architect will be filled immediately by Ray Ozzie, the Chief Technical Officer of the company as of June 15, 2006.[72] Bill Gates stated "My announcement is not a retirement – it’s a reordering of my priorities."[73]

text: 2007–2011: Microsoft Azure, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Microsoft Stores[edit]

text: Formerly codenamed "Longhorn" in the early development stages, Windows Vista was released to consumers on January 30, 2007.[74][75] Microsoft also released a new version of its Office suite, called Microsoft Office 2007, alongside Windows Vista. Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008, the next versions of the company's server operating system and development suite, respectively, were released on February 27, 2008.[76] Windows Vista was criticized for being heavy and needing large amounts of power to run the desktop widgets and the Aero theme. Many people continued to use Windows XP for many years after, due to its stability and low processing needs.

text: On December 19, 2007, Microsoft signed a five-year, $500 million contract with Viacom that included content sharing and advertisements. The deal allowed Microsoft to license many shows from Viacom owned cable television and film studios for use on Xbox Live and MSN. The deal also made Viacom a preferred publisher partner for casual game development and distribution through MSN and Windows. On the advertisement side of the deal, Microsoft's Atlas ad-serving division became the exclusive provider of previously unsold advertising inventory on Viacom owned web sites. Microsoft also purchased a large amount of advertising on Viacom owned broadcasts and online networks, and collaborated on promotions and sponsorships for MTV and BET award shows, two Viacom owned cable networks.[77]

text: In 2008, Microsoft wanted to purchase Yahoo (first completely, later partially) in order to strengthen its position on the search engine market vis-à-vis Google.[78][79] The company rejected the offer, saying that it undervalued the company. In response, Microsoft withdrew its offer.[80]

text: In 2009, the opening show of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was hosted by Steve Ballmer for the first time. In past years, it has been hosted by Bill Gates. During the show, Ballmer announced the first public Beta Test of Windows 7 for partners and developers on January 8, but also for the general public two days later. On June 26, 2009, Microsoft started taking pre-orders at a discounted price for Windows 7 which was launched on October 22, 2009. Windows 7 has several editions, which acknowledge the rise of netbook computers with reduced processing power. On May 10, 2011, the conpany acquired Skype Technologies for US $8.5 billion.[81]

text: 2011–2014: Windows 8, Xbox One, Outlook.com, and Surface devices[edit]

text: Following the release of Windows Phone, Microsoft underwent a gradual rebranding of its product range throughout 2011 and 2012—the corporation's logos, products, services and websites adopted the principles and concepts of the Metro design language.[82] Microsoft previewed Windows 8, an operating system designed to power both personal computers and tablet computers, in Taipei in June 2011.[83] A developer preview was released on September 13, and was replaced by a consumer preview on February 29, 2012.[84] On May 31, 2012, the preview version was released. On June 18, 2012, Microsoft unveiled the Surface, the first computer in the company's history to have its hardware made by Microsoft.[85][86] On June 25, Microsoft paid US$1.2 billion to buy the social network Yammer.[87] On July 31, 2012, Microsoft launched the Outlook.com webmail service to compete with Gmail.[88] On September 4, 2012, Microsoft released Windows Server 2012.[89]

text: In July 2012, Microsoft sold its 50% stake in MSNBC.com, which it had run as a joint venture with NBC since 1996.[90] On October 1, Microsoft announced its intention to launch a news operation, part of a new-look MSN, at the time of the Windows 8 launch that was later in the month.[91] On October 26, 2012, Microsoft launched Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface.[86][92] Three days later, Windows Phone 8 was launched.[93] To cope with the potential for an increase in demand for products and services, Microsoft opened a number of "holiday stores" across the U.S. to complement the increasing number of "bricks-and-mortar" Microsoft Stores that opened in 2012.[94] On March 29, 2013, Microsoft launched a Patent Tracker.[95]

text: The Kinect, a motion-sensing input device made by Microsoft and designed as a video game controller, was first introduced in November 2010, and was upgraded for the 2013 release of the eighth-generation Xbox One video game console. Kinect's capabilities were revealed in May 2013. The new Kinect uses an ultra-wide 1080p camera, which can function in the dark due to an infrared sensor. It employs higher-end processing power and new software, can distinguish between fine movements (such as a thumb movements), and can determine a user's heart rate by looking at his/her face.[96] Microsoft filed a patent application in 2011 that suggests that the corporation may use the Kinect camera system to monitor the behavior of television viewers as part of a plan to make the viewing experience more interactive. On July 19, 2013, Microsoft stocks suffered its biggest one-day percentage sell-off since the year 2000 after its fourth-quarter report raised concerns among the investors on the poor showings of both Windows 8 and the Surface tablet; with more than 11 percentage points declining Microsoft suffered a loss of more than US$32 billion.[97] For the 2010 fiscal year, Microsoft had five product divisions: Windows Division, Server and Tools, Online Services Division, Microsoft Business Division and Entertainment and Devices Division.

text: On September 3, 2013, Microsoft agreed to buy Nokia's mobile unit for $7 billion.[98] Also in 2013, Amy Hood became the CFO of Microsoft.[99] The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) was launched in October 2013 and Microsoft was part of the coalition of public and private organizations that also included Facebook, Intel and Google. Led by World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, the A4AI seeks to make Internet access more affordable so that access is broadened in the developing world, where only 31% of people are online. Google will help to decrease Internet access prices so that they fall below the UN Broadband Commission's worldwide target of 5% of monthly income.[100] In line with the maturing PC business, in July 2013, Microsoft announced that it would reorganize the business into four new business divisions by function: Operating System, Apps, Cloud, and Devices. All previous divisions were diluted into new divisions without any workforce cuts.[101]

text: 2014–present: Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft Edge and HoloLens[edit]

text: On February 4, 2014, Steve Ballmer stepped down as CEO of Microsoft and was succeeded by Satya Nadella, who previously led Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise division.[102] On the same day, John W. Thompson took on the role of chairman, with Bill Gates stepping down from the position, while continuing to participate as a technology advisor.[103] On April 25, 2014, Microsoft acquired Nokia Devices and Services for $7.2 billion.[104] The new subsidiary was renamed Microsoft Mobile Oy.[105] In May 2016, the company announced it will lay off 1,850 workers, taking an impairment and restructuring charge of $950 million. During the previous summer of 2015 the company wrote down $7.6 billion related to its mobile-phone business and fired 7,800 employees from those operations.[106] On September 15, 2014, Microsoft acquired the video game development company Mojang, best known for its wildly popular flagship game Minecraft, for $2.5 billion.[107]

text: On January 21, 2015, Microsoft announced the release of their first Interactive whiteboard, Microsoft Surface Hub (part of the Surface family).[108] On July 29, 2015, Microsoft released the next version of the Windows operating system, Windows 10.[109] Its server sibling, Windows Server 2016, was released in September 2016. In Q1 2015, Microsoft was the third largest maker of mobile phones selling 33 million units (7.2% of all), while a large majority (at least 75%) of them do not run any version of Windows Phone – those other phones are not categorized as smartphones by Gartner – in the same time frame 8 million Windows smartphones (2.5% of all smartphones) were made by all manufacturers (but mostly by Microsoft).[110] Microsoft's share of the U.S. smartphone market in January 2016 was 2.7%.[111]

text: On March 1, 2016, Microsoft announced the merge of its PC and Xbox divisions, with Phil Spencer announcing that Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps would be the focus for Microsoft's gaming in the future.[112] In June 2016, Microsoft announced a project named Microsoft Azure Information Protection. It aims to help enterprises protect their data as it moves between servers and devices.[113] In November 2016, Microsoft joined the Linux Foundation as a Platinum member during Microsoft’s Connect(); developer event in New York.[114] The cost of each Platinum membership is US$500,000 per year.[115] Some analysts deemed this unthinkable ten years prior; however in 2001, then-CEO Steve Ballmer called Linux "cancer".[116]

text: On January 24, 2017, Microsoft showcased Intune for Education at the BETT 2017 education technology conference in London.[117] Intune for Education is a new cloud-based application and device management service for the education sector.[118] Microsoft will launch a preview of Intune for Education "in the coming weeks", with general availability scheduled for spring 2017, priced at $30 per device, or through volume licensing agreements.[119] On June 8, 2017, Microsoft acquired Hexadite, an Israeli security firm, for $100 million.[120][121]